When Mark was working on his Gospel, he wrote in a way that he thought would be believable and even left out some of the miracles that were described in the other three Gospels. Mark stated that after Jesus’s death, thousands of Jews converted to Christianity. He confirmed that Jesus was a well-known religious figure, even by those who didn’t believe his message. 

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told the Disciples to preach to every nation on earth, not just Jews. Then Jesus ascended into Heaven, because his time on earth had been completed. The Disciples continued preaching, calling the people to repent and be baptized. They also told the Hebrews that they did not have to follow the Old Law anymore since Jesus had fulfilled it. The Jewish religious leaders arrested many of the Apostles and forbade them to speak Jesus’s name. 

After escaping imprisonment by a miracle, the Apostles continued preaching and appointed deacons to help spread the Gospel. Stephen, one of the first deacons, was accused by the Pharisees of being a blasphemer. Stephen, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and had a light glowing out of him, refused to denounce Christ, and was stoned to death by the Chief Priests, making him the first Christian martyr. 

Saul was a Jewish religious leader and was a prime persecutor of Christians. When he was on his way to Damascus, Saul had a vision of Christ who asked him “Why do you persecute me?” Saul changed his name to Paul and decided to start preaching Christ. The Book of Acts tells stories about the journeys of the Apostles. Christianity started expanding across borders, and Jews were no longer the only Christians. Antioch, Corinth, and Thessaloniki were the first major non-Jewish Christian cities. 

As Jesus continued his public ministry, the Pharisees got more and more scared of his influence. Jesus even started publicly condemning the Pharisees, proclaiming to “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees,” which meant to be wary of their faulty doctrine. The Jewish religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus and to use treason against Caesar as the reason. Jesus even predicted that this would soon happen and that after he would be resurrected. 

One day, Jesus took his disciples James, John, and Peter to a mountain outside of Jerusalem. There he Transfigured Himself in front of them and the Prophets Moses and Elijah mystically appeared. Jesus stated that poverty for His sake will bring riches in the next life. The Temple, a Jewish place of worship, was being used as a marketplace for moneychangers, so Jesus overturned their tables and said to not make His Father’s house into a place of money. 

After three years of public ministry, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on a colt, as the people laid palm leaves at his feet. In Jerusalem, Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be razed, that there would be war, famine, drought, and suffering, and that some of the disciples would be alive to see this. All these things would come true, when the disciple John witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in AD 70. 

In his last days on earth, Jesus celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with His disciples and had a meal with them. After the Last Supper, Judas Iscariot, handed over Jesus to the authorities for 30 pieces of silver. The Jews came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he was preparing for His coming death. Peter tried to defend Jesus when he cut off the ear of one of the guards, but he was told by Jesus to lay down his sword. 

After Jesus was arrested, most of the disciples fled and Peter even denied knowing Jesus three times. Judas tried to give the silver back to the chief priests, but when they refused, he hung himself in shame. The next morning, Jesus was questioned by the Roman Governor of Judea Pontious Pilate, who asked the people whether they wanted to free Jesus or Barabbas (a well-known murderer) and they chose Barabbas. 

Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One of the criminals scolded Jesus and the other said to Jesus: “Remember me when you enter into Your Kingdom,” and Jesus replied, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

After Jesus died, the sky became dark, the earth shook, the Veil of the Temple was torn in half, and the graves of the dead were opened. One of the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus saw this and repented. When Jesus gave up his earthly life, He completed the mission for which God the Father had sent him to earth: to give His life for the sins of man. 

The Carolingian Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire wanted to restore the Western Roman Empire but with a Christian dynasty. The government would be similar to the emperors of Rome, but the ruler would be called the Holy Roman Emperor. The capital was the German city of Aachen, the home of Charlemagne’s palace. Charlemagne hired artists, writers, and builders from every city he visited to build great structures. Alcuin of York, who was an Englishman, became a key advisor to Charlemagne and became Abbot of Tours, where he translated many works into Latin. In 787, Charlemagne told every abbot and bishop to establish a school in all monasteries and cathedrals, so the clergy could learn to read and write. 

Saint Patrick of Ireland was one of the most influential Saints of all, converting Ireland from Druidism to Christianity without violence, and established many churches and monasteries. After its conversion in the 5th century, Ireland was known as the “Isle of Saints.” Many of the greatest missionaries of the Early Church were from Ireland and were converted by Saint Patrick. Irish Saint Columbia built a monastery on the Scottish Island of Iona and set out to Christianize England. Moreover, Columbanus (born 546) established monasteries throughout Gaul and Italy. 

Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) used the famines, plagues, and wars to help convert thousands of people. By the 7th century, most of Europe was Christian even in the formerly pagan countryside. The Anglo-Saxons had been the most violent against conversion, killing many missionaries who tried to convert them. 

Saint Augustine of Canterbury approached King Ethelbert of Kent (leader of the Anglo-Saxons) with 40 monks and convinced him to marry a Christian queen from France, so he could baptize his people. By 597, a substantial portion of England had been converted. Once the Anglo-Saxons accepted the Faith, the Celts refused to convert because of their hatred of the Anglo-Saxons. In 626, Irish missionaries convinced the Celtic King Edwin to accept Christianity, but in 633 Edwin was defeated in battle by the Welsh, which meant the Celts were no longer Christian. In 634, Edwin’s nephew, Oswald, came to power and made his kingdom Christian again. 

In 686, Pope Conan sent three Irish monks on a missionary trip to Germany, which still had a large pagan population. Killian, one of the Irish monks, was made the first Bishop of Germany. Bishop Killian baptized the Duke Gosbert of Franconia but was martyred in 689. Saint Willibrord and 11 other Irish monks went on missions to the Netherlands and Germany. Subsequently, Pope Sergius I made Willibrord Bishop of Frisia, and as bishop, Willibrord traveled to Wurvburg in 704 and converted the Rhineland. 

Saint Boniface (675-754) was an Englishman from Wessex, was sent by Pope Gregory II to continue the work of Killian. In Thuringia and Hesse, Boniface converted two chieftains along with their whole tribe and he succeeded Killian as Archbishop of Germany. As bishop, Boniface built many monasteries and churches in Germany, and even chopped down a large tree dedicated to the pagan god Thor. 

During the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, the Kingdom of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire had a golden age known as the Carolingian Renaissance, in which they were the most influential kingdom in Western Europe. They had more control over the Church and the pope than the Byzantines, and this would eventually cause tension.